


Sink or Swim

by ShatteredSwallowtail



Series: Taming Dragons [14]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Husbands take a vacay, M/M, aymeric is a sneaky shit, estinien is cranky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:00:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24759706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShatteredSwallowtail/pseuds/ShatteredSwallowtail
Summary: Aymeric thinks they need a tropical vacay. I think so too lol.also, anyone who plays 14 and is familiar with the item called 'blue summer maro'.... yeah. Just picture Aymeric in one lol XD
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel/Estinien Wyrmblood
Series: Taming Dragons [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733218
Kudos: 38





	Sink or Swim

Oh, it was difficult not to laugh at his husband right now. Or rather, to laugh at the way Estinien was gaping wide-eyed at the scenery that greeted them when their aether had reconstituted itself this side of the aetheryte. It was downright adorable, and Aymeric allowed himself a small chuckle as he reached to give a gentle teasing tug to an errant lock of long snowy hair. “If I did not know otherwise, I would fain you had never seen an ocean before, love. Birds will roost in your mouth ere you leave it hanging open thusly.”

To his credit, the dragoon only shot him a mildly venomous look as he closed his mouth with a swallow before turning his attention back to the view. Aymeric couldn’t blame him; after all, Costa del Sol was known for its picturesque scenery. Sparkling turquoise waters lapping against white sandy beaches, the colourful hints of coral reefs flashing through the waves as they rolled in. stepping closer, he slipped an arm around his husband’s waist as he leaned his head against Estinien’s shoulder. It was perfect. The perfect getaway, and finally his chance to do something for the dragoon that echoed the wonderful pseudo-honeymoon they had spent together atop Anyx Trine when Estinien had stolen him away. “ _Now_ do you understand why I suggested your armour would be unnecessary?”

“It’s always necessary.” Estinien grumbled as he continued to stare. Halone preserve, there was so much _water_...and given the way so many of the other bodies populating this place were cavorting in it… Aymeric would likely expect _him_ to do the same. Shouldering the battered satchel in which he had packed a small amount of necessities, he eyed the rather more stuffed parcel that his husband had packed. “Unlike half of the things that you have insisted on bringing along, I would wager.”

Aymeric rolled his eyes with an amused shake of his head. “Is it entirely impossible for you to simply enjoy yourself on what is meant to be a vacation, Estinien? For me, if not for yourself?” He only meant it in jest, but his husband bristled slightly and narrowed his eyes before heaving a sigh and nodding towards the crowded wooden boardwalks and platforms that spread out across the lapping waters. “And I am meant to relax and enjoy myself surrounded by the noise of all of these people? I fear that is nigh an impossible task, Aymeric.”

That one he could give his husband, and Aymeric chuckled again and shook his head. Releasing his grip on Estinien’s waist as he glided fingertips down armoured forearm to twine them into the taller man’s fingers with a gentle tug towards one of the many docks. “Not at all, my own. I would hardly anticipate that we could simply enjoy ourselves here in relative anonymity. We are both rather recognizable, in spite of ourselves. And thus, my intention is to steal you away as you stole me away for our wedding night. Yet as I have not the same means at my disposal as you, I must rely on a mere boat for my plans.” Gesturing to the small craft moored at the end of the dock with a smile, he gave a friendly nod to what must have been the owner of the skiff. The darkly tanned man seated on a battered wooden crate returned Aymeric’s greeting with a nod and a wave of his hand before getting to his feet to extend his hand.

“Ser Aymeric of Ishgard, it’s an honour. I’ve taken the liberty of seeing that she’s well stocked with provisions as well as everything you need to navigate your way to the farther reaches of the archipelago. She’s not much to look at, but you won’t find a more reliable vessel.”

Despite Aymeric’s warm reply as he began to discuss suitable compensation for this venture, Estinien was far from convinced that what he generously described a ‘vessel’ would do anything other than sink from beneath them the moment they cast off from the dock. No, not the moment they did so. Then they could merely clamber back onto the safety and security of the wooden platform. This oversized wooden serving platter would doubtless churlishly bring them just far enough out of reach of the shore before it promptly capsized. Or sprung a leak. Or...whatever it was that boats did when they weren’t proper boats at all and were far too small for him to feel anything other than trepidation when he glowered at them.

Aymeric knew he hated the water. Or, to be more accurate...he hated any water that reached a depth beyond where he could comfortably stand head and shoulders above it with his feet firmly planted on the ground. Baths were fine. As was the waterfall and small grotto in the northern hills beyond Anyx Trine, because the pool was scarce deeper than his waist. Which also meant that he despised boats of all sorts, but especially the tiny, fragile, unreliable sort that his gleeful husband was now checking the provisioning of.

 _ **You know I hate boats, Aymeric…. And water.**_ He growled softly in Draconic into his husband’s mind, and though the Lord Commander said nothing in reply, he shot Estinien a look that was likely meant either to soothe his ire or make him feel guilty for attempting to spoil Aymeric’s fun. Neither result was the one garnered, as he found himself swearing creatively under his breath as he folded himself into the tiny boat and did his best to appear outwardly as though he gave not one single whit of care.

Halone be damned if the whole world found out that the former Azure Dragoon didn’t know how to swim.

“Snow is merely frozen water, my own.” Aymeric commented offhandedly as he took up the oars and steered them away from the dock as Estinien gazed longingly back at the safety and _solid ground_ of the dock that he was currently numbering among his most beloved of places. His husband’s comment earned him a rather colourful suggestion for just what he could do with his ‘frozen water’ as Estinien curled into as small of a space as possible and tried in vain to stop even his own breathing that he wouldn’t rock their small craft at all. Sadistic whoreson… he didn’t need a vacation, and even when he’d agreed to one anyway - to make Aymeric happy, not because the thought of one was appealing - he’d expected that they would simply lock themselves up in their house in the New Nest and he would see to it that his husband spent an entire week without putting on a single stitch of clothing. _This_ rather inventive form of husband-torture was as far from his idea of vacation as Nidhogg had been from a puppy.

Thank the twelve their ‘voyage’ was a relatively short one, and scarce half an hour had passed when Aymeric steered them towards one of the many small islands they had weaved around. Bumping the small boat against the sand as Estinien vaulted out of it as though he’d just sat on the wrong end of his lance. To his credit, he refused to do something so ridiculous as kissing the ground in relief, and he shot Aymeric a glare as the dark haired fool snickered softly. “Really, Estinien... it's only water. And think you truly that I would ever put you in danger purposefully?”

Some irate portion of him wanted to snap back with a suitably venomous reply...but he knew better. Not only because he adored his husband and trusted Aymeric completely, but because he could hear the faintest edge of disappointment in the rhetorical question and knew that a flippantly snapped reply would sting more than he intended or wanted it to. So instead he simply sighed with a shake of his head. “Of course not, Aymeric. It is that rickety contraption you insist on referring to as a ‘boat’ that I doubt in. Not you, love. And though you continue to remind me that it is ‘only water’, such reassurance is far more effective to one such as yourself who feels quite at home in it.”

“When I am quite finished with you, I intend that you will be quite comfortable and at home in the water as well, Estinien.” Aymeric replied with a soft chuckle as he finished pulling the boat up well past the tide line and rejoined his husband. Slipping long fingers beneath the edges of armour as he busied himself with unfastening each piece as Estinien watched him with a bemused expression on his face. “You mean to teach me to swim, then? I would save you the frustration of failure and decline if I believed that saying so would not be as if I spoke to a wall.” The teasing jab at the stubbornness that many were unaware of in his husband earned him another smirk from the dark-haired Elezen as he rid Estinien of yet another piece of armour. “You know me well, my own. As you know that I am hardly one to flee from a challenge. I _will_ teach you to swim before we leave this place.”

There was little point in arguing with Aymeric when he was so focused, it would only earn him a headache for his troubles and so instead of voicing his relative certainty that his husband would end up disappointed Estinien simply helped in doffing the remainder of his armour before he carefully stowed it away. Though he was loath to admit it to himself and would bite of his tongue before voicing it… Aymeric was right. He _was_ rather more comfortable in the sun without the heavy mail. Pressing his palms against the small of his back, he closed his eyes and stretched with a contented sigh only to nearly choke on it as he straightened up and his gaze landed on his now significantly less clothed husband.

As much as the logical portion of his brain reminded him that of course Aymeric wasn’t going into the water in his clothes, and despite the number of times - more than he could count by now - he had seen his husband in the altogether...that did not make him prepared for what looked to him to be an extremely abbreviated pair of blue smallclothes that covered very little beyond what they normally did. The Lord Commander noticed his expression and gave Estinien what he knew for a fact was not an innocent look despite how it appeared as he shrugged. “Have you not seen a bathing costume before, love? I packed one for you as well, should you wish to change…” With a teasing smile that told Estinien all he needed to know about his scheming husband’s intentions, he turned and headed into the water.

Aymeric was no fool, that fact was hardly one to be debated given his achievements in life thus far. But he was also no fool when it came to his husband, and he could feel Estinien’s burning eyes following him as he walked, adding just the smallest subtle sway to his hips as the small waves splashed against his calves. He’d initially been surprised when he found that Estinien didn’t know how to swim, but the explanation that it had simply never been a priority actually made a lot of sense. As with so many other things in his dragoon’s life, it had simply fallen by the wayside in the face of his mission and his revenge and he had never seen fit to revisit it. What he didn’t think Estinien realized, however… was that he had picked up on one small important detail; that his self-perceived weakness where water was concerned was a hit to Estinien’s pride. He wouldn’t admit to anyone that he couldn’t swim, and he kept a gruff and dismissive attitude towards it whenever Aymeric attempted to suggest that he could learn without much difficulty. No, Estinien seemed to find it the least complicated option to remain as he was and deflect any comment or insinuation that he was uncomfortable around water.

Which had, of course, only made Aymeric that much more determined to teach him. The first step to that had been getting his husband to some locale where he would be less able to argue his way out or - in true Estinien fashion - simply vanish until he decided otherwise. He’d managed to get around that by insisting that they take a vacation together - ‘you are forever sggesting that I work too hard, after all’ - and declaring that their destination was to be a surprise. Shamelessly taking advantage of the fact that he knew Estinien wouldn’t deny him. And while any other circumstance would have left him feeling guilty for doing so… it was in the interests of aiding his stubborn husband and he would accept the guilt for that.

His efforts were rewarded a short time later when he surfaced from beneath the water to the sight of his husband standing knee deep in the surf, eyeing the water itself with the same sort of trepidation that anyone else might have eyed a deadly viper. He’d changed while Aymeric swam, and the simple pair of black cropped trousers suited him well. Unwilling to lose this chance while he had it, Aymeric headed back towards the shore to grab Estinien’s wrist and tug his protesting husband along with him. “Aymeric, I can’t- that’s too deep, I…”

This had been a bad idea. No, it was worse than bad, it was a terrible idea and Estinien offered up every mental curse he could come up with as he pondered how ridiculous he must look right now. Despite his protests, he had been fine in the water until another wave had hit and Aymeric had taken the opportunity to tug them both out beyond the breakers and the ocean floor had dropped from beneath his feet. Which left him in his current position, clinging to his husband like a leech and doing his best not to hyperventilate as Aymeric softly whispered reassurances into his ear. Which… helped. A little. He knew perfectly well that his husband wasn’t about to let go of him - and even if he did, Estinien wasn’t letting go of _him_. He just… felt so incredibly foolish. He was a man grown, a soldier, he had been in more battles than he could count and he was gripping his husband’s shoulders like a terrified child because of something so stupid as an inability to swim. Burying his face in Aymeric’s neck with a soft whimper, he growled into his husband’s mind. “ _ **I appreciate your determination, but this is not going to work.**_ ”

A sharp pang of guilt swamped his mind as he heard that soft whimper, felt the tremors in Estinien’s taller frame as the dragoon clung to him like a liferaft and that guilt only tempered Aymeric’s determination as he shook his head and tightened his arm around Estinien’s waist. “It will, my love… you only need to relax first. Once you can feel for yourself that you will float if only you relax, then it will be so much less frightening to you. It’s only us here, beloved… there is no one to see, no one whose judgement you need fear.”

“And just _how_ , praytell, would you suggest that I relax right now?” There was more venom in his sharp tone than he meant, though Aymeric seemed to pay it no mind as he tightened his arm again and pursed his lips in thought before an idea came to him. He shifted his grip on Estinien with one arm as the other hand slid up the side of his husband’s neck in a gentle caress. Red eyes watched him, the fear in them warring with curiosity and suspicion as he slid his fingers higher to curl them tight around the horn above Estinien’s ear. Stroking his thumb against the ridges as he fastened his mouth to the other side of Estinien’s throat just beneath the angle of his jaw. “Simple, my own. I will see to it that the water is the farthest thing from your mind…”

Any argument he might have had vanished in a hitched whine as the pad of Aymeric’s thumb traced its way over every bump and edge of his horn and shockwaves went all the way to his toes. “A… Aymeric….” The only response that he received was a purr against his skin as his husband bit down at the angle of his jaw, the tip of his tongue flickering against skin as he began sucking a dark bruise there. And then Aymeric began talking, and he forgot all about the damned water.

He’d never lied when he styled himself as ‘obsessed’ with Estinien’s horns. Not only because they were quite beautiful and suited his husband perfectly, but because of how ridiculously sensitive they were. Memorizing every subtle bump and ridge and line on them had been a delightful exercise in desire and control and yet he still couldn’t help himself. Taking every chance to play with them if only to watch the way the taller man writhed and gasped and whimpered with every stroke of his fingers against their black surface. Knowing Estinien loved having them touched only made him enjoy touching them more and he mouthed his way up to a spot just beneath his husband’s ear before he was purring words against skin.

“I love these… Love touching them… hearing the way your breath catches when I do… the way you squirm against me…” He punctuated his words by shifting his grip on Estinien just enough to wedge one of his thighs between his husband’s, his free arm wrapped around the dragoon’s waist and his hand gripping Estinien’s hip. Which gave him the perfect angle to flex his elbow and grind his thigh into the hard line of Estinien’s cock. “Does it feel as good as it does when I’m on my knees for you? Perhaps I should suck on one of your horns… run my tongue over it just the same as I do when I take you in my mouth…. Would you break for me then? Whimper my name as you are doing now?”

If what Aymeric was doing with his fingers and his mouth wasn’t enough to take his mind off of anything else...the moment his husband started up the soft commentary against his skin and began grinding his thigh into Estinien’s aching cock he couldn’t think of anything else. Aymeric’s silver tongue was something known throughout Ishgard - and the majority of Eorzea - but _Estinien_ was the only one who knew how sweetly that tongue could whisper the most filthy things. And he loved it. One of his hands unclenched from Aymeric’s shoulder to bury itself in dark curls and press that sinful mouth closer to his neck as he nodded with another whine. Voice cracking as a perfectly timed grind of Aymeric’s thigh had his breath catching again. “Y….yes…. Gods, yes…”

“Yes? Hmm….then I shall most certainly have to try that… Perhaps lick those horns over and over while I work my fingers into you...you’re always so tight when I do...and the way you shake for me.... Like you’re shaking now. Is that what you’d like, Estinien? For me to take you apart with my fingers...while you bury your cock in my mouth over and over?” It had taken him weeks to get comfortable actually voicing such thoughts, but knowin how much Estinien enjoyed it had made it easier and the way his husband was trembling and whimpering as his hips canted against Aymeric’s thigh in a desperate grind made him want nothing more than to drag the former Azure Dragoon out of the water and onto the sand to turn fantasy into reality. But despite how much his own body ached for release, he hadn’t forgotten the purpose of this. Estinien was close, and Aymeric bit down hard on the side of his throat with a soft growl as he felt his husband’s frame stiffen as he choked out a needy cry. Working Estinien through it, he continued to grind hips against his thigh until he felt the taller man’s weight begin to sag against him between shuddering spasms. “There….see? You can relax, even in the ocean…”

His husband...was a demon. Or an angel. Or some combination of the two, but Estinien’s brain was far too muddled in a haze of pleasure to determine the exact ratio of angel to devil behind those blue eyes. And he was right about one thing; now that he was relaxed, he could feel the way the water itself supported him. It’s buoyancy keeping him from sinking like a stone when he wasn’t tense or flailing, and just that simple discovery made the entire notion of learning to swim a good deal less daunting. And though he felt slightly affronted that Aymeric had taken such good care of him and denied himself release...that was something he could remedy later. For now, he would focus on what his husband was trying to teach him. It was the least he could do after such ‘determination’ on Aymeric’s part.

By the time the sun was beginning to sink in the sky, Estinien was astonished to find that not only could he consistently manage to float on the surface of the water, but he was even beginning to master the simple mechanics of self-propulsion. It would take a good deal of practice, but that was made all the more worth it by the pride he could see in Aymeric’s eyes as his husband congratulated him on the progress he had made. With little time left before dark, they retreated from the water and back to the warm sands to set up their small camp area. They were both more than adequately versed in such things and it took a scant half an hour before the tent was set up and a fire was burning in a small ring of stones. Settling himself onto the sand, Estinien watched his husband with a bemused expression as Aymeric busied himself with spreading out two towels on the sand, faced towards the lapping surf. “Dare I ask what you intend to do with those?”

“Only something so devious as ask if you would like to join me in watching the sunset, love. It’s beautiful.” Aymeric replied over his shoulder as he stretched out on his stomach on one of them, propping his chin up on his hands as he watched the brilliant red-orange ball of the sun dip lower in the sky to barely kiss the glittering water. It _was_ a beautiful sight, and not only because of the way the light was reflecting from the blue surface of the water. That golden glow painted everything in its radiance, ghosting softly over his husband’s tanned skin and tracing every curve of toned muscle as it worshiped Aymeric in a way that Estinien mused he himself also did. Shining gold into coal-black curls and lighting up sky blue eyes as he gazed out over the water. Estinien would never have called himself an artist of any kind but at that moment he almost wished that he were, so that he could have something other than his memory with which to capture the sight that threatened to steal his breath away. “Aye… beautiful.” He whispered half to himself and half to Aymeric as he returned his husband’s smile. Turning to his satchel to rummage in it and pull out a bottle of scented oil with a smirk before loping over to the towel Aymeric had laid out for him.

He glanced up as his husband settled himself down onto the other towel, one eyebrow raising at the bottle in Estinien’s hand. Well that was certainly an idea that sounded good. There was seldom a time when he didn’t want the dragoon, and he could scarce remember a time his advances had ever been met with a denial. The sudden coolness of the oil against his back brought slight confusion before long fingers began to knead it into his skin and Aymeric let out a soft moan as his head dropped onto his arms and he closed his eyes. “I had thought your intentions different, but please do continue.”

A chuckle was punctuated by a gentle kiss to his nape as Estinien’s hands moved from his shoulders to his lower back. Thumbs kneading into tense muscles with just enough pressure and Aymeric sighed with content as he felt them begin to relax beneath Estinien’s practiced touch. “Were I not like to become jealous, I would suggest that this become your new path in life, my own. Your skill at this is unparalleled.”

“Only where you are concerned. I have no wish to waste my time or my effort on anyone else.”

The flippant response hid the true meaning of ‘I don’t want to touch anyone else’, though he had long since learned to be fluent in Estinien and Aymeric smiled against his arms as the dragoon’s thumbs slid lower to circle in the tip at the base of his spine. “Then I am doubly blessed.” Another chuckle and a more lingering kiss to his nape brought another smile before he felt those thumbs slide to his sides and hook into the waist of the blue bathing garment before Estinien tugged it down his hips. Sliding it off of him and tossing it aside as his eyes shot open. “Estinien, what are-” He was cut off with a kiss and a smirk as he found his own words repeated back to him. “It is only us here, is that not so?” Which was true, and he found himself returning Estinien’s smirk with a smile and a shake of his head before he laid it back down. “In truth, I cannot argue with such logic. So long as you do not expect me to become a nudist.”

“And for what reason would I ever wish any other eyes to see what is _mine_ , Lord Commander?” Estinien purred into his ear with a teasing lick to the tip of it before he returned to his prior actions. Strong fingers kneading down Aymeric’s legs, working loose knotted muscle in calves and thighs as he traveled back up. The title made him shiver; Estinien knew he loved hearing it in that growling, heated tone and the answering throb in his groin reminded him of his earlier denied release as Estinien’s hands returned to the small of his back.

“Every ilm of you...is mine and mine alone…” Words whispered against his neck as Aymeric felt sharpened teeth graze his skin before Estinien’s tongue laved over the spot. “A temple I will worship at until I cease to draw breath. Would I were an artist that I could capture the sight of you like this… alas, my memory and my hands will have to suffice. And I shall have to be very… _very_ thorough…” His last words were a whispered purring growl as his fingers slid lower, kneading into the firm flesh of Aymeric’s rear as he began to leave a trail of open-mouthed kisses down his husband’s spine. Pausing only to pour a little more of the oil into the hollow of Aymeric’s back before his fingers returned to their place. Kneading and caressing, sliding up his thighs and across his backside and teasing just shy of where he wanted them to go. Aymeric’s mouth was dry and he could feel himself beginning to tremble slightly when Estinien finally teased one oiled thumb against his entrance. Circling in excruciating slowness before pressing it in just as patiently as Aymeric’s breath caught and he rocked hips back against Estinien’s hand with a soft moan.

“Patience, my lord… I’m still memorizing…” He teased as he slipped his thumb in a little further, circling it inside of Aymeric as his fingers continued to knead against his husband’s ass. “You have the most intoxicating ass, Aymeric… So tight, yet you open up so well for me…” Pressing his thumb in deeper, he drank up every little shudder and moan as he curled it to stroke against that spot inside as he pushed his other thumb in. Kneading them in time inside of his husband as he watched Aymeric’s hands fist in the towel as he struggled to stay still even as his hips rocked back into every circling thrust of Estinien’s thumbs. “Honour dictates that I repay you in kind for your attentions earlier today...would that please you? Or would you prefer that I fill you with something other than my fingers?”

He wasn’t expecting Aymeric to actually answer him, not with the way he was panting and whimpering, torn between rutting against the towel and grinding his hips back against every stroke of Estinien’s fingers that grazed that spot inside him without fully giving him what he wanted. Keeping him needy and wanting, just the way Estinien wanted him to be, and he whispered a feral growl into Aymeric’s ear with the next twist of his thumbs. “Tell me you want me to fuck you like this….” A shuddering moan barely masked the raspy reply of ‘yes’ before he was pulling his thumbs free and gripping Aymeric’s hips to raise them up and thrust deep with one snap of his hips. He’d worked himself up nearly as much as he’d done his husband and he knew neither of them would last long as he set a rough, hard pace. Angling Aymeric’s hips to go deeper with every thrust, slamming into that spot and relishing the hoarse cries and screams as he reached around to wrap fingers around Aymeric’s cock and stroke with the same rough, hard pace. A little twist of his wrist and his husband broke with a scream of Estinien’s name, biting down on the twisted fabric of the towel as the dragoon slammed into him another half dozen times before finding his own release with a shout.

His arms had given out within a few moments and Estinien allowed himself to collapse onto the tangled mess of towel and husband beneath him as he nuzzled against the back of Aymeric’s neck with a whisper. “I love you. And.... thank you. For believing that I could learn, even when I didn’t.”


End file.
